PTTGC acquired chemical firm Vencorex

PTTGC acquired chemical firm Vencorex
PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) has acquired a stake of 9.18% in France-based Vencorex Holding for an unknown sum as it continues to buy additional assets that highlight value-added products, said the company.

With the share acquisition from Perstorp Holding AB, PTTGC will gain 100% ownership of Vencorex. The deal is made via GC Inter BV (a wholly-owned offshoot of PTTGC). Payment was carried out on 30 Jun 2022.

The deal boosts the presence of PTTGC in the downstream polyurethane business under its scheme to concentrate on value-added products to serve rising Asian demand. Vencorex is a key isocyanate manufacturer in Europe.

Moreover, PTTGC continues to concentrate on downstream petrochemical operations to decrease its manufacturing of commodity-grade polymers, which face price instabilities and tough market competition.

As per MRC, PTT Global Chemical America announced plans to build a new plastics recycling facility in central Ohio.
PTTGCA, the company that has proposed construction of an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to locate a new recycling complex on SWACO property.
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Neste delivers first ever CORSIA certified SAF

Neste delivers first ever CORSIA certified SAF

For the first time in history a CORSIA certified batch of sustainable fuel (SAF) was delivered to a commercial Neste, the world’s leading SAF producer, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This was part of a pilot to certify SAF as a CORSIA eligible fuel that can be used by an airline to meet its emissions obligation under CORSIA. The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (“CORSIA”) is a carbon offset and carbon reduction scheme to lower CO2 emissions for international flights, to curb the aviation impact on climate change. It was developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). But until now, no airline in the world has taken delivery of CORSIA-certified SAF, making this delivery a first.

Neste has been working together closely with aviation stakeholders to accelerate the use of SAF and has a long-standing partnership with American Airlines, the world's largest airline when measured by fleet size. Both companies support CORSIA’s emissions reduction goals, but as the SAF certification process under CORSIA is new, they decided to set up a pilot project to certify a batch of SAF and use that process to understand its challenges.

Compliance with the CORSIA sustainability criteria requires independent attestation by an ICAO-approved Sustainability Certification Scheme (SCS). Neste decided to pursue this certification from the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) system.

“Cooperation with American, ISCC and all others involved was absolutely critical in achieving this important milestone,” Thorsten Lange continues. “We will be sharing our experiences in ICAO’s upcoming Environmental Report. Because in the end, we need cooperation with all stakeholders within the aviation industry to achieve the emission reductions.'

Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a today solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of flying by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle compared to fossil jet fuel. Neste-produced SAF is made from sustainably sourced, 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials. As a drop-in fuel it can be used with existing aircraft engines and airport fuel infrastructure, requiring no extra investment to them.

As per MRC, Neste has made the final investment decision to invest into new renewable products production capacity in Rotterdam. The decision is based on demand for renewable products growing substantially with customers' higher climate ambitions. Neste’s current 1.4 MMt capacity for renewable products in Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. The Rotterdam refinery expansion investment of approximately EUR 1.9 B will expand Neste’s overall renewable product capacity by 1.3 MMtpy, bringing the total renewable product capacity in Rotterdam to 2.7 MMt annually, of which sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production capability will be 1.2 MMt. The company’s target is to start up the new production unit during the first half of 2026.
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Advanced Petrochemical to invest USD1.6 B in three Saudi plants

Advanced Petrochemical to invest USD1.6 B in three Saudi plants

Advanced Petrochemical Company, based in Saudi Arabia, said that one of its subsidiary, Advanced Polyolefins Industry Company has signed several agreements worth USD1.6 B to fund the construction of plants at Jubail Industrial City II, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project includes a development of a propane dehydrogenation plant with a total annual capacity of 843,000 tons in addition to a polypropylene (800,000 tons) and a isopropanol facility (70,000 tons), per Trade Arabia.

The consortium members taking part in the funding include Alinma, Al Rajhi, Arab National Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, Bank Albilad, Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank and Saudi National Bank, according to the report.

The total credit facilities consist of a SR4.7 B base facility, SR438 MM standby facility, SR600 MM bridge Murabaha facility and SR356 MM VAT Murabaha facility, the article states.

As MRC wrote previously, in April, 2021, Advanced Petrochemical Co. announced that it had resumed operations at two plants in Jubail, Saudi Arabia after the completion of a scheduled turnaround. Thus, operations at the company's polypropylene (PP) plant began on 28 March, 2021, whereas operations at its propane degydranation (PDH) unit restarted on 11 April, 202. Both plants were shut for repairs on 11 March, 2021. The maintenance works were implemented in line with the occupational safety and health standards, despite the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Clariant SynDane catalyst chosen for Wanhua’s new world-scale maleic anhydride plan

Clariant SynDane catalyst chosen for Wanhua’s new world-scale maleic anhydride plan

Clariant has been awarded a major contract by Wanhua Chemical Group to supply catalysts for its new maleic anhydride plant, which will be one of the largest in the world, said the company.

Designed to produce 200 kilotons of maleic anhydride annually, the plant will rely on Clariant’s SynDane catalyst for the production process. The facility will be located in Yantai city, Shandong province, and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.

Also based in Yantai, Wanhua is one of the largest chemical producers in China and is among the top 30 chemical producers globally by 2020 sales. The Wanhua plant will be the first to use a new maleic anhydride production technology.

Compared to the conventional technology, this improves production efficiency and reduces power consumption. The technology licensor Conser estimates a reduction in energy consumption of 2.5 to 3.0 MW per hour of production at the Wanhua plant.

Assuming 8,000 hours of production per year, Wanhua’s annual energy savings will amount to 20,000 to 24,000 MWh. Jace Wang, Head of Business Unit Catalysts at Clariant in China, commented, “Sustainability is a vital aspect of our company strategy, and we are proud to support Wanhua in this ambitious and important project with our innovative catalysts."

Clariant’s SynDane is suitable for the new production technology. This was previously confirmed in successful performance testing with MAN DWE. Moreover, SynDane further intensifies the production and energy efficiencies of the new process, providing its exceptionally low pressure drop. The catalyst’s special structure and chemical composition also increase the selectivity towards maleic anhydride and thus maximize product yield.

China is in the process of gradually eliminating the use of non-degradable plastics, which is expected to boost demand for biodegradable plastic. Maleic anhydride is an important base material for polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) and polybutylene succinate (PBS) biodegradable plastics. PBAT plastic offers similar properties to low-density polyethylene plastic. However, when buried in soil, it is completely decomposed by naturally occurring micro-organisms, leaving no toxic residues.

PBS is another biodegradable plastic with a high degree of biodegradability. A second catalyst was selected for the existing nitric acid plant in Ningbo: EnviCat N2O-S, is designed for highly effective purification of offgas containing nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful climate gas.

Wanhua can expect up to 95% of N2O emissions, to be converted into harmless oxygen and nitrogen. This is particularly important for the producer, as nitrous oxide is 300 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide. To help minimize the damaging effects of this greenhouse gas, Clariant launched a major campaign offering a free load of its EnviCat N2O-S to 10 nitric acid producers worldwide, who will be able to reduce their N2O emissions by more than 4 million tons of CO2 equivalents annually when using the catalyst2 .

Lummus Technology announced it and its catalyst partner Clariant have been awarded a major contract by Fujian Meide to supply CATOFIN technology and catalysts for a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Fuzhou, China. Already operating one PDH unit at its Fuzhou petrochemical complex, Fujian Meide is now building one of the largest PDH units in the world and has selected the CATOFIN process and catalysts for the project's second phase. The new unit will produce 900,000 mtons of propylene annually and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.
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Austria to tap fuel reserves again during refinery outage

Austria to tap fuel reserves again during refinery outage

Austria said it plans to release fuel from its national reserves for a second time since an accident at the country's biggest refinery in June prolonged an outage that is set to continue at least for another month, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

On June 3, two people were injured at OMV's Schwechat refinery when a part at a crude oil distillation unit exploded towards the end of a planned turnaround that has halted output at the site since April 19. Having released petrol and diesel from the national reserves on June 4, the energy ministry said in a statement it now planned to release roughly the same amount of diesel again as well as a smaller amount of intermediate products from which finished petroleum products will be produced.

"Comprehensive security of supply for our country should thus be ensured, bridging the duration of the maintenance work in Schwechat," the statement said. The plan must be approved by the main committee of the lower house of parliament, which is meeting on Monday evening. Under the plan, 100,000 tons of diesel and 45,000 tons of intermediate products will be released. On June 4, the amounts released were 112,000 tons of diesel and 56,000 tons of petrol.

While there have not been obvious signs of fuel shortages - like long lines at petrol stations - there have been reports of retailers briefly running out of diesel or limiting the amount customers can buy. Earlier on Monday, the opposition Social Democrats accused the government of dithering in addressing a national fuel shortage and urged it to tap the reserves.

The ministry said the reserves of crude oil and various products generally amount to 90 days' average national consumption, and the level was now at 67.5 days' worth before the second release, which would remove another 5.8 days' worth.

As per MRC, Austria is following through on a "use it or lose it" threat to eject Russia's Gazprom from its large Haidach gas storage facility for systematically failing to fill its portion of the capacity there, said Reuters.
The country’s industry regulator, E-control, started the process for assuming control over the underground Haidach site using a law which entered into force this month that allows Austria to seize critical storage spaces if operators fail to fill them to at least 10% of capacity.
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